UK electricity generation is now at the same level as 1994, the year Bill Clinton gave his first State of the Union speech. Despite an increase in population since, the country reached “peak generation” in 2005. Since then demand for electricity has reduced because of energy efficiency measures introduced by the EU. This has significantly reduced the amount of electricity used per person. Renewables now form 33.4%. Adding renewables and nuclear* meant that 2018 was the second year that the UK generated more than half its electricity from non-carbon sources.
Significantly, there were greater CO2 savings from energy efficiency than from switching to renewables. Analysis by Carbonbrief.org shows:
The reduction in the UK’s per-capita electricity generation has saved 103 terawatt hours (TWh) since 2005, slightly more than the 95TWh increase in renewable output over the same period. If this electricity had instead been generated from gas, CO2 emissions for the entire UK economy would have been around 80 million tonnes (MtCO2, 20% )higher than the 368MtCO2 total seen in 2017. If it had come from coal emissions would have been some 180MtCO2 (50%) higher.
The introduction of uniform energy efficiency labelling throughout the EU and the measures taken to impove efficiency as a result help consumers make decisions about their choice of new appliances.
Simon Evans from Carbon Brief told BBC News: “Although the picture is complex it’s clear that energy efficiency has played a huge role in help the UK to decarbonise – and I don’t think it’s got the recognition it should have.
"Say you change from a B or C-rated fridge to an A++ rated fridge. That can halve your energy use from the appliance, so it’s pretty significant.”
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In some cases, savings have been forced. Incandescent light bulbs are now illegal to sell, apart for some specialist applications. Initially people replaced these with compact flourescent bulbs but more recently they are switching to LEDs which use less than 10% of incandescent bulbs with the same light output. (I have an LED replacement for a 600W photographic light which is rated at 40W).
New “flat screen” televisions use far less power than older CRT (tube) televisions and are far larger.
Since 2012, the EU has also been reducing the maximum power of vacuum cleaners sold. In 2014, this reduced from 1600 watts to 900w (at 230v 50 Hz AC). Despite hysteria in the anti-EU press about dirty houses as a result, the UK’s Consumer Association’s Which magazine found that in tests, those cleaners produced before the changes used 280 Watt-hours a year but those after only 170Wh. Even more significantly, the tests showed that the amount of carpet dust picked up rose from 72% to 77%.
These are just a few examples of how new more efficient designs and technological changes have reduced the demand for power from domestic consumers without making any lifestyle changes, indeed there are more devices like tablets and cellphones in use. There are also financial incentives for them to reduce their consumption:
Previous research by the government’s climate change advisers has found that more energy efficient appliances helped save the average household £290 a year between 2008 and 2017.
Fuel costs have also provided an incentive for non-domestic users to lower their consumption.
Simon Evans, policy editor at the group, said: “It could be a combination of more efficient appliances, energy-saving lightbulbs and, more recently, LEDs. Then there’s supermarkets installing better fridges, industry using more efficient pumps. Across all of those businesses, efficiency will have been going up. And of course there’s the changing nature of industry in the UK.
The financial crisis could also have played a role in making homes and businesses more careful with their energy use, he added.
While generation fell almost every year between 2008 and 2014, it remained stable between 2015 and 2017, before resuming its downward march in 2018.
The lesson of this is perfectly clear; reducing CO2 output needs a multi-pronged approach — higher levels of home insulation (another factor in reducing power demands); switching to non-carbon generation and efficiency savings brought about by both individual and regulatory action.
*The calculations are made difficult by the UK importing and exporting electricity to other countries. Nuclear is forming a lower percentage of generation in the UK as old power stations are de-commissioned however much of the electricity bought from France is nuclear generated.